


How To Save A Life

by orphan_account



Category: Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Abuse Themes, Multi, Suicide Themes, general warning for depression, self harm themes, triggering
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-24
Updated: 2015-11-23
Packaged: 2018-05-03 03:18:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5274569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>an au where Pete Wentz and his musician husband are parents to their adopted son Tyler and they're all just rolling with the punches</p>
<p>aka four times Tyler didn’t learn from his dad’s mistakes and the one time he did</p>
<p>((please check tags/author's notes for triggers))</p>
            </blockquote>





	How To Save A Life

**Author's Note:**

> yooooo this is gonna be mostly a very awful sad fic with themes regarding abuse, self harm, depression, mental illness, and suicide
> 
> however the ending will be happy
> 
> there are minor character deaths but no major character deaths
> 
> posted at anon's request

**_.one._ **

When Pete and Patrick brought Tyler home, the sweet lebanese boy was as happy as could be, four years old and still enchanted with the world, and that hardly changed. He grew up in their house playing pretend, living for the days Patrick was home from tours and patiently counting down the days ‘til homecoming when he wasn’t.

Pete stuck around during Patrick’s tours to take care of Tyler, and between Tyler’s imagination, Hemingway, and Pete, the boy was pretty well satisfied when it came to entertaining himself. Pete was happy with that too, he’d been a pretty imaginative as a kid; Pete knew in time Tyler would find friends to fill his time.

The first day of kindergarten was evidence of this, a little ball of energy named Josh Dun entered Tyler’s life at age five and seemed destined to never leave. It was honestly stunning, to Pete, the two got along so well. Josh and Tyler could spend hours playing pretend. As they grew, their interactions did too- in third grade they scrambled into Pete’s house after crazy snowball fights vying for hot chocolate; during eighth grade Josh would sit in the corner of the driveway while Tyler shot hoops, retrieving the ball whenever it bounced too far away.

Tyler met more friends too, some highlights for sure was the energetic mormon boy Brendon who reminded Pete of Patrick because the kid could sing like a motherfucker. Tyler seemed drawn to a certain kind of kid, natural misfits and bright spots in the average Joe fabric of suburbia- Hayley, a sweet trans girl; they met at a school canteen, and Ryan Ross who volunteered at the library. Hayley was nice and Tyler was always asking Pete to take them to the mall to get clothes for Hayley (spoiler: Pete usually caved.) The more Tyler fell into place with friends, school and otherwise, the more Pete felt that little tick in his mind, the desire to protect and guide his son.

Pete couldn’t lie. Before getting his shit together with help from Andy, Joe, and Patrick, he made a lot of mistakes. He felt as though he’d been through a fair amount in his life, and it only seemed like the responsible thing to do; that is, advise Tyler to not make some of the same messes Pete had as a kid.

Thus came piece of advice number one.

“Ty...tell you what, lil dude. Always watch out for your friends, okay?” Tyler was sitting the table swinging his legs in the air, stabbing his fork into some mac and cheese. They were waiting for Patrick to come home from the airport and it was too quiet, Pete hates quiet, he’s in the habit of speaking to get rid of silence. 

"What do you mean dad?"

Pete paused, and he thought really hard for a second. Pete had been a really social person all his life, and he’d loved and lost a lot of friends over time just due to drifting interests, moving to new places, college and jobs. That was one thing. But Pete had lost friends other ways too- What stood out most was probably the loss of one of his closest friends, Gabe. That had been different, that had been so much fucking worse because it wasn’t an accident, it wasn’t just a broken off friendship- It was Gabe taking his own life after not being able to go on. That was Pete, missing every single fucking red flag put up by one of his best friends. 

That was Pete not looking out for his friends, and the guilt and anguish that came along with that was something Pete never wanted Tyler to feel, ever.

“I just think it’s important to keep an eye on the people you care about,” Pete says after a long moment; tapping his fingers on the kitchen counter. 

Tyler glances up from his mac and cheese, it’s an apprehensive look, just the same as that time when Tyler was in fifth grade and asked about the white lines on Pete’s arms and wrists. 

“You aren’t gonna...cry again, are you?” Tyler’s voice is slow and uncertain and Pete feels his heart twist a little, faintly feels bad. He knows he’s not a strong person, and unfortunately, Tyler’s born the brunt of that his entire childhood. Tyler’s witnessed more of Pete’s bad days than Pete would like to admit.

“Nah, kid, I’m okay.” Pete flashed a smile, and then there were keys jingling at the front door, and Tyler stands up suddenly, and Pete says with a grin, “Patrick’s home.”

And that, thankfully, helps the awkward air dissipate, shared joy over Patrick’s return from tours have always been a point of connection for Tyler and Pete as Tyler’s grown up. Even through bitter fights as a preteen and Tyler’s own occasional encounters with panic attacks, homecoming was a silent truce.

They both made for the hallway and the conversation was long forgotten.

•|•|•

Tyler forgets all about Pete’s advice to look out for friends until the announcement one morning at school that makes his blood run cold. 

_“Students, faculty. This morning we’re taking a moment to...discuss a tragedy that occurred yesterday. One of our own students- freshman Ryan Ross- unfortunately passed away. Now, we have a number of grief counselors available, and those who knew him…”_

The end of the announcement is completely lost on Tyler; it falls on deaf ears.  
Ryan is dead. One of Tyler’s closest friends, one of the main members of his inner circle is...gone.

There’s mixed reactions around Tyler, he’s in his first period classroom and he can’t help staring down Ryan’s empty desk. Some people have started crying, boys clad in football jerseys are shaking their heads in disbelief. Nobody seems ready to accept it. Even the teacher's got wide, shining eyes. 

Tyler walks numbly through his classes all day unable to believe without some sort of proof or explanation and at lunch when he finds his friends, all of them share the same sort of look, like any second one of them is going to get sick. Josh won't even look at anyone. 

Spencer's the worst, though. His cheeks are still wet with tears, his eyes are red, he's drowning in this big oversized hoodie staring at the table. 

"Guys," Brendon says after a second, and his voice is hoarse. "F-fuck..." Tyler tenses, it's not normal for Brendon to swear because of his upbringing, but he, like the rest of them, is really truly distraught. Brendon's sitting squished up close to Spencer, and Tyler's suddenly pretty certain nobody is going to be eating today. 

“This is my fault.” Spencer’s words slice through the silence and tension and everyone looks at him, Brendon’s lower lip wobbles and he presses closer. They all know what Spencer means.

They all saw it. They saw bruises and paper thin wrists, they all knew what Ryan’s dad was like. Spencer over anyone knew, mostly because when it got bad, Ryan used to take refuge at the Smith household. They _all_ saw it, the way Ryan shied away when people spoke too loudly; flinched when anyone gestured to wildly while speaking. But Ryan always said it was fine. And they were all kids. Too scared to do anything.

They all noticed. So how come no adults did?

“It’s not our fault,” Josh whispers in a shaky voice, fidgeting and blinking rapidly, trying hard not to cry. They all were. “It’s not- We’re just kids.”

“My dad told me to look out for my friends,” Tyler breathes after a minute, looking around them, their ragtag group of friends, now short one member. “And I didn’t- We didn’t- I didn’t know what he meant. I didn’t even think twice about it.”

“But I knew,” Spencer chokes out, insistent and sad, “I knew his dad was- The hospital called us last night because Ryan’s emergency contact was my parents. He was beat so bad he fucking died. And I could have...”

"Listen," Brendon says, speaking up and looking around all of them- sad worn out faces with tear stained cheeks. "We just...we couldn’t have done anything. We just have to promise...never again. Right? For Ryan."

"For Ryan," Josh and Tyler repeat solemnly, before Josh puts his arms on the lunch table and rests his chin on top of them.

"For Ryan," Spencer whispers. Tyler tries to remind himself that his father knows what he's talking about.


End file.
